An essential element of E-commerce and E-government is the collection of information on large computer networks, where either the information itself is the product sought, or information about products and services is being retrieved. Currently the retrieval of information on large computer networks, in particular the Internet, is getting more and more complicated. The volume of the stored information is overwhelming, and time and capacity needed for retrieval of information is growing strongly. Congestion in computer networks is a serious problem.
Numerous services are currently available to ease these problems, ranging from simple push technologies such as "PointCast" which brings information to your doorstep by "narrow-casting" or filtering information based on an individual's specified interests; to sophisticated systems that allow for the "personalization" of network user sessions and the tracking of user activities. Collaborative filtering of a user's "clickstream" or history of Web-based activity, combined with neural networks, which look for detailed patterns in a user's behavior, are just beginning to emerge as powerful tools used by organizations of all kinds.
While the majority of these technologies are at the moment essentially being in design and utility, they are indicative of the types of products that are being developed. The end result culminates in the creation and development of Intelligent Software Agent Technologies (ISATs). Intelligent Software Agents are software programs, at times coupled with dedicated hardware, which are designed to complete tasks on behalf of their user without any direct input or supervision from the user.1 Agents for that purpose contain a profile of their users. The data in this profile are the basis for the actions an agent performs: searching for information, matching this information with the profile and performing transactions on behalf of its user.